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Breast cancer

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    • Home
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      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
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      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
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      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Follow-up
        • Physical examinations
        • Breast imaging tests
        • Questions to ask
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        • Costs of treatment and prostheses
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      • GP guides and resources
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    • Home
    • Types
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget’s disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
    • Awareness
      • iPrevent
    • Diagnosis
      • Tests
        • Triple test
      • Stages of breast cancer
      • Receiving a diagnosis
      • Diagnosis of early breast cancer
        • What the pathology report means
      • Diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ
        • What the DCIS pathology report means
      • Diagnosis when breast cancer spreads
      • Questions to ask
    • Treatment
      • Treatment team
        • Members of the team
        • Talking with health professionals
        • Questions to ask
      • Deciding about treatment
        • Travelling
        • Pregnancy
        • Tips for making decisions
        • Questions to ask
        • MammaPrint ® (70 gene signature) test
      • Surgery
        • Breast-conserving surgery
        • Mastectomy
        • Surgery to the armpit (axilla)
        • Surgery for metastatic breast cancer
        • Breast reconstruction
        • Choosing a surgeon
        • Questions to ask
        • Care after surgery
      • Radiotherapy
        • Early breast cancer
        • Metastatic breast cancer
        • Questions to ask
        • Skin care
        • Travelling
      • Chemotherapy
        • How does chemotherapy work?
        • Type of chemotherapy
        • What does chemotherapy involve?
        • Side effects
        • Questions to ask
      • Hormonal therapies
        • Hormone receptors
        • Types of hormonal therapy
        • Side effects
        • Menopause and oestrogen production
        • Deciding about hormonal therapies
        • Questions to ask
      • Targeted therapies
        • HER2 receptors
        • Types of targeted therapy
        • Questions to ask
      • Complementary & alternative therapies
        • Complementary therapies
        • Questions to ask
        • Where to find more information
      • Metastatic breast cancer palliative care
        • What is palliative care?
        • Accessing palliative care
        • Questions to ask
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Follow-up
        • Physical examinations
        • Breast imaging tests
        • Questions to ask
      • Advanced disease
        • When treatment stops
        • Facing the possibility of dying
        • Putting your affairs in order
        • Questions to ask
      • Recurrent and secondary cancer
        • What makes spread more likely
    • Living with
      • Practical aspects of diagnosis
        • Costs of treatment and prostheses
        • Travel schemes
        • Questions to ask
        • Choosing a cancer treatment
      • Physical changes
        • Body image
        • Menopause
        • Fertility
        • Lymphoedema
      • Emotional changes
        • How you might feel
        • Effects on partners
        • Effects on children
        • Effects on family and friends
      • Physical changes – metastatic
        • Pain
        • Symptoms and treatment side effects
      • Emotional changes – metastatic
        • Common feelings
      • Practical aspects - metastatic
        • Work
        • Financial support
        • How to access support at home
        • How to access support outside home
        • Questions to ask
    • Life after
      • Health
        • Fatigue
        • Poor sleep
        • Lymphoedema
        • Menopause
        • Pain
        • Diet
        • Exercise
      • Feelings
        • Finding a new ‘normal’
        • Fear of recurrence
        • Feelings of loss
        • Isolation
        • Anxiety and depression
        • Not sure how you feel?
      • Relationships
        • Partners
        • Children
        • Friends
        • Colleagues
      • Practical issues
        • Returning to work
        • Questions to ask your health fund
    • Support
    • Clinical trials
      • What happens in a clinical trial?
      • What are the phases of a clinical trial?
      • Advantages and disadvantages
      • Questions to ask about clinical trials
      • When to find more information
    • Health professionals
      • Menopausal symptoms
      • Screening
      • Breast cancer diagnosis
      • Early breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Ductal carcinoma
      • Lobular carcinoma
      • GP guides and resources
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      • Breast cancer Qstream
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  • Complementary & alternative therapies
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  • Ductal carcinoma in situ
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  • Locally advanced breast cancer
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  • Follow-up
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Treatment options for metastatic breast cancer

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  • A|A

A range of different treatments are available for metastatic breast cancer.

Everyone is different. Treatments that may be suitable for one woman may not be suitable for another. It may be that several different treatments are tried before finding one that the cancer responds to.The aim of treatment for metastatic breast cancer is to control the growth and spread of the cancer, to relieve symptoms and improve or maintain quality of life.

The treatments recommended will depend on:

  • which treatments are most likely to control the breast cancer
  • what side effects the woman can cope with.

Treatment for metastatic breast cancer usually involves treatment with one or more systemic therapies:

  • hormonal therapy
  • chemotherapy
  • targeted therapy.

Treatment for metastatic breast cancer may involve:

  • radiotherapy
  • surgery.

In addition to treatments to control the cancer, there’s the option of palliative care to help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. It’s possible to have palliative care at the same time as active treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

In addition, some women choose to use complementary therapies or may be involved in a clinical trial.

Hormonal therapies

Hormonal therapies are drugs used to treat women who have hormone receptors on their breast cancer cells. Hormonal therapies are usually used as the first treatment for metastatic breast cancer and may be used alone or with other treatments.

Hormonal therapies can slow or stop the growth of metastatic breast cancers and can relieve symptoms. For some people, hormonal therapies can make the cancer smaller. The benefits of treatment with hormonal therapies for women with metastatic breast cancer can last for some time – sometimes for years.

Hormonal therapies are usually recommended as the first treatment for women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. Hormonal therapies are usually given before chemotherapy. If the cancer is growing quickly, especially if it is in the liver or lungs, chemotherapy may be given first.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy may be used to treat women who do not have hormone receptors on their breast cancer cells. It may also be used after hormonal therapies, or to treat metastatic breast cancer that is growing quickly, particularly if it’s in the liver or lungs.

The aim of chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer is to stop the cancer from growing or spreading, to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life. For some people, chemotherapy can make the cancer smaller. The benefits of treatment with chemotherapy can last for some time – sometimes for years.

Chemotherapy is usually recommended for women with metastatic breast cancer who:

  • don’t have hormone receptors on their breast cancer cells
  • have hormone receptors on their breast cancer cells but have stopped responding to hormonal therapies
  • have a fast-growing cancer, especially if it’s in the liver or lungs.

Targeted therapies

Targeted therapies (sometimes called biological therapies) are drugs that stop the growth of particular types of cancer cells. Targeted therapies are only suitable for some women. They are usually used with other treatments.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy may be used to reduce the size of metastatic breast cancers in some parts of the body and to relieve pain, especially in the bones.

Surgery

Surgery is not routinely used in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. It may have an important role for some women as a way of controlling the disease or reducing symptoms in certain parts of the body. Surgery may be used to treat cancer in the bones, lungs or brain, and more rarely in the liver. A biopsy of the breast will usually be done if metastatic breast cancer is the first diagnosis of breast cancer.

  • Last Updated
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updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm
Australian Cancer Trials

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
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  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

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